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Holy $hit that was a PIA! On a scale of 1-10, that is a 7. They are back together and the adhesive is drying. They will be re-installed in the morning. I have about 6 hours into the whole project. You really hack up your lights, but its in areas that are not going to be seen. I also found Black adhesive RTV at Autozone for $10. I took a couple of pictures that I think will help explain a little more. I blew out my dremel and it took about 4 cutting blades to get through both lights.

Soapy water doesnt get rid of the haze on the inside. I tried clay bar with spray polish, everything I had in my arsenal. What ended up working the easiest and best was an "all purpose adhesive remover". This applies easily and wipes clean. I took a high speed buffer and polished the outside of the lenses too while they were off. I painted the corner lense (was yellow) black and I removed the tint over the outside of the lenses. I will post finished pics later this week. START THIS PROJECT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING! Buy everything first..

Damn bro congrats on tackling that task.. Can't wait to see how they came out.

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is the headlight with the flange removed with the dremel and now I am cutting the rubber to remove the lens. "Apomerans" drew a good diagram of what it is like and he labels them Cut #1, Cut #2. You cannot complete this task with cutting #2 only. I did not realize this with the first headlight I did and I had to then go back and cut all the way around again with his Cut #1. The second headlight I skipped cut #2, and went right to his cut #1 angle (still follow me?). I had better results cutting #2 first, then going back and cutting #1 (all still referencing Apomerans diagram drawing).

The problem with going right to cut #1 is you are cutting blind and can go too deep into the inner housing (making a hole into the headlight). I made a small error, this but was able to re-seal when I RTVed the lights back together.

The first pic shows the rubber is UNDER the lens that has to be cut out. All in All, it was SO worth it to me. The front end of the car looks so much cleaner and new. If you have angle eyes it makes them ALOT brighter!!! I do NOT regret this mod at all. The good news is, if you have to re-do it again, you only have to cut the RTV, no more dremeling next time...

Oyeah, whoever said you could get this apart by "baking" them?? I want what your smoking... This $**** is like tire rubber. An angled blade would have helped me, less stuff to dremel around to get my box knife into. Someone mentioned a dentist tool kit, that probably would have been better.

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is the headlight with the flange removed with the dremel and now I am cutting the rubber to remove the lens. "Apomerans" drew a good diagram of what it is like and he labels them Cut #1, Cut #2. You cannot complete this task with cutting #2 only. I did not realize this with the first headlight I did and I had to then go back and cut all the way around again with his Cut #1. The second headlight I skipped cut #2, and went right to his cut #1 angle (still follow me?). I had better results cutting #2 first, then going back and cutting #1 (all still referencing Apomerans diagram drawing).

The problem with going right to cut #1 is you are cutting blind and can go too deep into the inner housing (making a hole into the headlight). I made a small error, this but was able to re-seal when I RTVed the lights back together.

The first pic shows the rubber is UNDER the lens that has to be cut out. All in All, it was SO worth it to me. The front end of the car looks so much cleaner and new. If you have angle eyes it makes them ALOT brighter!!! I do NOT regret this mod at all. The good news is, if you have to re-do it again, you only have to cut the RTV, no more dremeling next time...

Nice!how long did it take to make the actual cuts? I would think that's the part one would have to pay close attention to and be patient with.

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is the headlight with the flange removed with the dremel and now I am cutting the rubber to remove the lens. "Apomerans" drew a good diagram of what it is like and he labels them Cut #1, Cut #2. You cannot complete this task with cutting #2 only. I did not realize this with the first headlight I did and I had to then go back and cut all the way around again with his Cut #1. The second headlight I skipped cut #2, and went right to his cut #1 angle (still follow me?). I had better results cutting #2 first, then going back and cutting #1 (all still referencing Apomerans diagram drawing).

The problem with going right to cut #1 is you are cutting blind and can go too deep into the inner housing (making a hole into the headlight). I made a small error, this but was able to re-seal when I RTVed the lights back together.

The first pic shows the rubber is UNDER the lens that has to be cut out. All in All, it was SO worth it to me. The front end of the car looks so much cleaner and new. If you have angle eyes it makes them ALOT brighter!!! I do NOT regret this mod at all. The good news is, if you have to re-do it again, you only have to cut the RTV, no more dremeling next time...

Good job Glad to see other people successfully doing this to their cars. Hope my pics and description helped out.

There hasnt been much discussion on it, and Im still very intersted in where (if possible) I can order just the headlight lenses for this car. Headlights themselves work fine, and since its a unit that was assembled in pieces Id assume (somewhere, some how) I would be able to purchase the lenses only. Please advise guys

I plan to take on this project on Wednesday or Thursday. Couple quick questions/concerns before I pull the trigger. #1. Do I Dremel around the entire headlamp assembly or just the top lip that covers the lens seal? #2. If I want to paint the orange side marker black (or Anthracite Grey), which kind of paint do I use? #3. How long do I let the sealer bond/cure before putting the headlamps back in? Sorry for the rookie questions but I'm still a little hesitant due to the fact that our headlamps are a couple months rent. I have to do it tho because I hate the inside haze more than I fear f*

Did this today took me all day practically nice sunday project. Drivers side was HORRID. 100x better. Light cutoffs look perfect now. Thanks for the writeup and giving me the courage to dremel my headlamps open

Did this today took me all day practically nice sunday project. Drivers side was HORRID. 100x better. Light cutoffs look perfect now. Thanks for the writeup and giving me the courage to dremel my headlamps open

Glad to see it worked for you bro. How about some pic so we can see how well you did.

Ill post some up tomorrow of it on the car. Heres a pic of the lens and the housing without it. Didn't take many pics but being an 02 you can imagine how they looked before. Dremel i bought from home depot for 50$ and came with attachments. The light output was well worth the cash and the time
Also would like to add the lens pic was taken after i used some goo gone spray on the inside. It took most of the grime off before more thoroughly cleaning and polishing. Used 3m, and meguiars. Buffed and polished. Didnt sand it as i did not have much but crud on the inside and out.

So wait,
All you did was take off the headlights..tear off the glue or sealent cleaned the inside with some cloth and then glued it back on???

Sure, that's all we did. "Slam dunk" as they say... LOL. On a technical task rating of 1-10 this is an 8. How about this. Replacing an O2 sensor an my 7 ranked about a 5. Be prepared to go through one dremel and many cutting bits. Some black sealant and about 12-16 hours worth of work. Includes install and de-install time. I have the bumper removal down to a science. However, my 7 is long gone (happy/sad day). I don't miss spending hours tinkering with my car. GLWM! Tell us about your experience when your done. Let us know how "easy" it was.

Thanks, it took a while to find this information. I learned of permaseal after I spend an hour with the oven at different temps and damn near gave myself a hernia. I had wire around the lens edge connected to my foot and applied a good amount of force on a hot light. If I did not know better I think I heard my head light laughing at me. In any case thanks for the information.

First is dont force the lens or try to pry up from one side. There is a black piece of plastic connected to the lens by the orange reflector that can break if twisted. The lens should come off easy.

I cut the black plastic the entire way around except two spots on the bottom where the head lights sit on the base. I could not get anything to cut the glue so I cut into the clear plastic on these two spots and will be sure to give them some extra water proofing after.

The cutting discs I had for a dremel are thin and covered in grit. They will break if you are in a rush. I broke the first one in a couple minutes. The second lasted through this lamp. I would recommend safty goggles with sides. My sun glasses were letting in some plastic chips from time to time.

First is dont force the lens or try to pry up from one side. There is a black piece of plastic connected to the lens by the orange reflector that can break if twisted. The lens should come off easy.

I cut the black plastic the entire way around except two spots on the bottom where the head lights sit on the base. I could not get anything to cut the glue so I cut into the clear plastic on these two spots and will be sure to give them some extra water proofing after.

The cutting discs I had for a dremel are thin and covered in grit. They will break if you are in a rush. I broke the first one in a couple minutes. The second lasted through this lamp. I would recommend safty goggles with sides. My sun glasses were letting in some plastic chips from time to time.

Haha i remember doing this. Fun stuff. Fortunately for me i had an all metal Bit that worked fine for me and never had it break but you're not joking about the glasses. I did it with none and had to be extremely cautious. What a mess it made.. And the time to let it dry to seal and reassemble... Ahh I definitely dont miss that thing